A highly selective sucrose isomerase (SIase) was purified to homogeneity from the cell-free extract of Erwinia rhapontici NX-5 with a recovery of 27.7% and a fold purification of 213.6. The purified SIase showed a high specific activity of 427.1 U mg(-1) with molecular weight of 65.6 kDa. The K (m) for sucrose was 222 mM while V (max) was 546 U mg(-1). The optimum pH and temperature for SIase activity were 6.0 and 30 °C, respectively. The purified SIase was stable in the temperature range of 10-40 °C and retained 65% of the enzyme activity after 2 weeks' storage at 30 °C. The SIase activity was enhanced by Mg(2+) and Mn(2+), inhibited by Ca(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+), and Co(2+), completely inhibited by Hg(2+) and Ag(2+). The purified SIase was strongly inhibited by SDS, while partially inhibited by dimethylformamide, tetrahydrofuran, and PMSF. Additionally, glucose and fructose acted as competitive inhibitors for purified SIase.